Chargeability presenting method and chargeability presenting system

ABSTRACT

A chargeability presenting method which includes before start of transmitting first electric power to an electric vehicle, wirelessly supplying second electric power to a charging space, detecting whether heat is generated by a foreign object in the charging space after the second electric power is transmitted, and before start of transmitting the first electric power, presenting chargeability information that is generated based on vehicle presence information and foreign object information, the vehicle presence information indicating whether the charging space is vacant, and the foreign object information indicating whether the heat is detected in the charging space.

This is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/788,511, filed onFeb. 12, 2020, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,065,969, which is a continuation ofU.S. application Ser. No. 16/166,122, filed on Oct. 21, 2018, now U.S.Pat. No. 10,607,487, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.No. 15/901,215, filed on Feb. 21, 2018, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,140,866,the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a chargeability presenting method anda chargeability presenting system that present whether or not anelectric vehicle is chargeable in a vehicle parking place where acharger for wirelessly charging vehicles is installed.

2. Description of the Related Art

The “vehicles” as used herein and in the appended claims refer to anymoving objects (including two-wheeled vehicles and so on). The “vehicleparking place” as used herein and in the appended claims refers to anarea where arbitrary moving objects (including two-wheeled vehicles andso on) can be parked. The “electric vehicles” as used herein and in theappended claims refer to any electric-power-driven moving objects(including two-wheeled vehicles and so on) among vehicles.

For example, electric vehicles that travel on electric power stored inbatteries have made an appearance. Although there are cases in which thebatteries in the electric vehicles are charged through connection toelectrical lines by using plugs, vehicle manufacturers and so on arenowadays developing, as essential technologies for next-generationelectric vehicles, technologies for wirelessly charging electricvehicles without connection to the electrical lines, and have alsostarted making efforts for standardizing the technologies.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-215703discloses a vehicle-parking location guiding technology that obtainsinformation indicating a charging efficiency when a vehicle iswirelessly charged in practice and that gives guidance indicating thelocation of a wireless charging facility in conjunction with theinformation indicating the charging efficiency.

SUMMARY

With the related technology, a user of an electric vehicle can recognizethe charging efficiency in a vehicle parking place. However, there arecases in which an electric vehicle cannot be charged in the vehicleparking place since another electric vehicle has already occupied thecharging facility or a metallic foreign object is present therein. Inparticular, for an electric vehicle in which the remaining batterycharge is low, it is important that charging can be performed in avehicle parking place to which the electric vehicle is heading.

One non-limiting and exemplary embodiment provides a chargeabilitypresenting method and a chargeability presenting system that make itpossible to recognize the vacancy state of a charging space, that is, torecognize whether or not a parking place of interest is a parking placefrom which electric power can be received.

In one general aspect, the techniques disclosed here feature achargeability presenting method which includes before start oftransmitting first electric power to an electric vehicle, wirelesslysupplying second electric power to a charging space, detecting whetherheat is generated by a foreign object in the charging space after thesecond electric power is transmitted, and before start of transmittingthe first electric power, presenting chargeability information that isgenerated based on vehicle presence information and foreign objectinformation, the vehicle presence information indicating whether thecharging space is vacant, and the foreign object information indicatingwhether the heat is detected in the charging space.

According to the present disclosure, a vehicle parking place wherewireless charging can be performed is presented to allow a driver of anelectric vehicle or the like to recognize the vacancy state of acharging space.

It should be noted that general or specific embodiments may beimplemented as a system, a method, an integrated circuit, a computerprogram, a storage medium, or any selective combination thereof.

Additional benefits and advantages of the disclosed embodiments willbecome apparent from the specification and drawings. The benefits and/oradvantages may be individually obtained by the various embodiments andfeatures of the specification and drawings, which need not all beprovided in order to obtain one or more of such benefits and/oradvantages.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overview of a vehicle parking placesystem in a first embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a typical example of a functionalconfiguration and a mechanism configuration of one vehicle parking placein the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of amanagement apparatus in the first embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of oneinformation terminal in the first embodiment in conjunction with amechanism configuration thereof;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of processing performed byone information terminal in the first embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a view of a screen showing the locations of vehicle parkingplaces and chargeability information, the screen being displayed on adisplay device in the information terminal in the first embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of processing performed bythe information terminal in a second embodiment;

FIG. 8A is a view of a screen on which the vacancy states of chargingspaces based on vehicle presence information in the second embodimentare displayed in a list form in association with vehicle parking places;

FIG. 8B is a view of a screen on which the vacancy states of thecharging spaces are displayed in a tabular form in association with thevehicle parking places;

FIG. 9A is a view of a screen on which the vacancy states of thecharging spaces based on vehicle presence information and foreign-objectinformation in the second embodiment are displayed in a list form inassociation with the vehicle parking places;

FIG. 9B is a view of a screen on which the vacancy states of thecharging spaces are displayed in a tabular form in association with thevehicle parking places;

FIG. 10 is a view of a screen showing details of the chargeabilityinformation based only on the vehicle presence information for adesigned vehicle parking place in the second embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a view of a screen showing details of the chargeabilityinformation based on the vehicle presence information and theforeign-object information for the designated vehicle parking place inthe second embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a view of a screen showing details of chargeabilityinformation generated without adding difficulty-level information in athird embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a view of a screen showing details of chargeabilityinformation generation by adding the difficulty-level information in thethird embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a view of a reservation screen displayed on the displaydevice in the information terminal in a fourth embodiment; and

FIG. 15 is a view of a removal ordering screen displayed on the displaydevice in the information terminal in the fourth embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of a chargeability presenting method and a chargeabilitypresenting system according to the present disclosure will be describedwith reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments describedbelow are merely examples of the chargeability presenting method and thechargeability presenting system according to the present disclosure.Therefore, it is to be understood that the scope of the presentdisclosure is defined by the wording in the claims with reference to theembodiments described below and is not limited to only the embodiments.Hence, of the constituent elements in the embodiments described below,the constituent elements not set forth in the independent claims thatrepresent the broadest concept of the present disclosure are notnecessarily needed to achieve an object of the present disclosure, butare described as constituting a more preferred mode.

The accompanying drawings are schematic drawings in which at least oneof emphasis, omission, and adjustment in proportions is made asappropriate in order to illustrate the present disclosure and may differin at least one of actual shapes, actual positional relationships, andactual proportions.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overview of a vehicle parking placesystem in a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a typical example of a functionalconfiguration and a mechanism configuration of one vehicle parking placein the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of amanagement apparatus in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of oneinformation terminal in the first embodiment in conjunction with amechanism configuration thereof.

A vehicle parking place system 200 illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4 includesone or more vehicle parking places 101 having charging spaces 110 wherechargers 121 for wirelessly charging electric vehicles are installed, amanagement apparatus 103 that is connected to the one or more vehicleparking places 101 through a network 199 to manage the one or morevehicle parking places 101, and information terminals 105 that areconnected to the management apparatus 103 through the network 199. Thevehicle parking place system 200 has a chargeability presenting system.

As illustrated in FIG. 2 , each vehicle parking place 101 is a facilityhaving one or more charging spaces 110 where the chargers 121 forwirelessly charging electric vehicles that are parked are installed. Inthe example illustrated in FIG. 2 , each vehicle parking place 101includes a control apparatus 124, and each charging space 110 includes avehicle detection sensor 122 and a thermal sensor 123, in addition tothe charger 121.

Each vehicle parking place 101 may have one or more vehicle parkingspaces 120 where vehicles including electric vehicles can be parked andthe chargers 121 are not installed. The vehicle parking place system 200may also include one or more vehicle parking places 101 having only thevehicle parking spaces 120.

Each charger 121 wirelessly supplies electric power to a power-supplydevice included in each electric vehicle in a contactless manner.Although the wireless power-supply system for the charger 121 is notparticularly limiting, it may be implemented by, for example, a systemfor supplying electric power by causing magnetic-field coupling,electromagnetic-field coupling, or the like between the charger 121 andthe power-supply device. The electric power supplied from the charger121 charges a rechargeable battery included in the electric vehicle viathe power-supply device.

Each vehicle detection sensor 122 can detect whether or not a vehicle ispresent in the corresponding charging space 110 or the correspondingvehicle parking space 120. In FIG. 2 , each vehicle detection sensor 122is provided in the corresponding charging space 110. Each vehicledetection sensor 122 may also be provided in the corresponding vehicleparking space 120.

A system by which the vehicle detection sensor 122 detects a vehicle isnot particularly limiting and is implemented by, for example, anultrasonic sensor or an optical sensor.

For example, when the presence of an electric vehicle is to be detectedin response to communication establishment of the charger 121 with anelectric vehicle, a communication apparatus corresponds to the vehicledetection sensor 122. The vehicle detection sensor 122 may be any sensorthat can detect whether or not a vehicle is present in the correspondingcharging space 110 or the corresponding vehicle parking space 120 anddoes not necessarily have to directly detect a parked vehicle. Forexample, when at least one of the charging spaces 110 and the vehicleparking spaces 120 is a coin-operated parking space, a vehicle may bedetected depending on whether or not a parking meter is in operation ordepending on the opening/closing of a boom gate for regulating passageof a vehicle.

Each thermal sensor 123 is a sensor for detecting, when a metallicforeign object other than an electric vehicle is present in a wirelesspower-supply region where the charger 121 can wirelessly charge anelectric vehicle, heat generated from the foreign object owing to apower supply operation performed by the charger 121. In the case of thepresent embodiment, each thermal sensor 123 is an infrared sensor fordetecting infrared rays resulting from heat production. Morespecifically, each thermal sensor 123 may be a thermal camera that hasinfrared sensors in a matrix and that can acquire the shape or the likeof a region that is producing heat, that is, a foreign object that isproducing heat, owing to the power supply operation.

The heat detecting system for the thermal sensor 123 is not particularlylimiting. The thermal sensor 123 may also be used as the vehicledetection sensor 122.

Each control apparatus 124 can input and output information through thenetwork 199. The control apparatus 124 includes at least one of a devicein which a microprocessor operates in accordance with instructionsincluded in a computer program stored in a storage device to executeprocesses included in the chargeability presenting system and a hardwarecircuit that executes the processes. The control apparatus 124 includesa vehicle detector 112 and a foreign-object detector 113, which areprocessing units that are implemented by software or hardware. In thecase of the present embodiment, the control apparatus 124 furtherincludes a removability determiner 114.

The control apparatus 124 may be provided for each charger 121 or may beprovided in the vehicle parking place 101 and be connected to theplurality of chargers 121 and so on.

The vehicle detector 112 is a processing unit that determines whether ornot a vehicle is present in each charging space 110 in the vehicleparking place 101, based on a signal from the vehicle detection sensor122, and that outputs at least vehicle presence information indicatingwhether or not a vehicle is present in the charging space 110.

The vehicle detector 112 may output the vehicle presence information bycausing each vehicle detection sensor 122 to operate based on receivedsearch indication information or may output the vehicle presenceinformation when a signal from the vehicle detection sensor 122 changes.The vehicle detector 112 may periodically output the vehicle presenceinformation based on information from the vehicle detection sensor 122at predetermined time intervals.

The foreign-object detector 113 is a processing unit that causes eachcharger 121 to attempt the power supply operation, that determines thata foreign object is present in the corresponding wireless power-supplyregion when heat is generated in the wireless power-supply region basedon the result of the attempt, and that outputs foreign-objectinformation indicating that a foreign object is present. The “attempt ofthe power supply operation” as used herein refers to a power supplyoperation that the foreign-object detector 113 causes each charger 121to execute for detecting a foreign object and, specifically, forincreasing the temperature of the foreign object to a temperature thatcan be detected by the corresponding thermal sensor 123. Morespecifically, for example, this power supply operation is milder thanthe normal power supply operation for charging an electric vehicle andis realized by reducing the electric power to be supplied or limitingthe amount of power supply time to the amount of time in which a foreignobject is detectable.

The foreign-object detector 113 may output foreign-object information bycausing each charger 121 to operate based on received detectionindication information or may output foreign-object information when asignal from the corresponding thermal sensor 123 changes. Theforeign-object detector 113 may also cause each charger 121 toperiodically attempt the power supply operation at predetermined timeintervals and output the foreign-object information based on informationfrom the corresponding thermal sensor 123.

The removability determiner 114 is a processing unit that outputs, whenthe foreign-object detector 113 determines that a foreign object ispresent in the wireless power-supply region, removability informationindicating whether or not the foreign object is removable by humanpower, based on thermal image information from the thermal sensor 123,which is a thermo camera. Specifically, for example, the removabilitydeterminer 114 calculates the area of a region where the temperature ishigher than or equal to a predetermined temperature. When the calculatedarea is larger than or equal to a predetermined first threshold, theremovability determiner 114 outputs removability information indicatingthat a foreign object that is present in the corresponding chargingspace 110 is not removable, and when the calculated area is smaller thanthe first threshold, the removability determiner 114 outputsremovability information indicating that the foreign object isremovable.

The removability determiner 114 may also cause difficulty-levelinformation indicating the difficulty level of removing a foreign objectto be included in the removability information, based on a plurality ofthresholds, such as a second threshold. A specific difficulty-levelinformation creation method is described later.

The removability determiner 114 may perform image processing on thermalimage information from the thermal sensor 123 based on receivedobservation indication information and output removability informationor may output removability information each time the foreign-objectdetector 113 detects a foreign object.

The management apparatus 103 is the so-called server, which is connectedto the vehicle parking places 101 through the network 199 to manage atleast one of the vehicle parking spaces 120 and the vehicle parkingplaces 101 included in the charging spaces 110. In the case of thepresent embodiment, the management apparatus 103 includes achargeability-information generating unit 131, achargeability-information adjusting unit 132, a charging reserving unit133, and a removal arranging unit 134, which are processing units in thechargeability presenting system. A microprocessor performs input/outputof information through the network 199 and accumulation of theinformation and operates in accordance with a computer program tothereby realize the processing units.

The charging reserving unit 133 and the removal arranging unit 134 aredescribed later in another embodiment.

By using a database in which a vehicle parking place identifier foridentifying each vehicle parking place 101, location informationindicating the location of each vehicle parking place 101,number-of-charging-spaces information indicating the number of chargingspaces 110 in each vehicle parking place 101, and so on are associatedwith each other, the chargeability-information generating unit 131generates chargeability information indicating chargeability in eachvehicle parking place 101, based on the vehicle presence information andthe foreign-object information output from each vehicle parking place101.

The chargeability-information generating unit 131 may output searchindication information to the vehicle parking places 101, based onreceived search indication information, obtain vehicle presenceinformation as a response to the output search indication information,output detection indication information to the vehicle parking places101, based on received detection indication information, and obtainforeign-object information as a response to the output detectionindication information. The chargeability-information generating unit131 may also periodically collect at least one of the vehicle presenceinformation and the foreign-object information from the vehicle parkingplaces 101.

The chargeability-information adjusting unit 132 adjusts thechargeability information that the chargeability-information generatingunit 131 generates based on the removability information output fromeach vehicle parking place 101. More specifically, even if theforeign-object information indicating that a foreign object is presentis received, when the foreign object is removable based on theremovability information, the chargeability-information adjusting unit132 assumes that the foreign object is absent and adjusts thechargeability information. Also, when the removability informationincludes the difficulty-level information, the chargeability-informationadjusting unit 132 may adjust the chargeability information inaccordance with the difficulty-level information.

The chargeability-information adjusting unit 132 may output observationindication information to the vehicle parking place 101, based onreceived observation indication information, and obtain removabilityinformation as a response to the output observation indicationinformation. The chargeability-information adjusting unit 132 may alsoperiodically collect the removability information from the vehicleparking place 101.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 4 , each information terminal 105 is anapparatus that is connected to the management apparatus 103 through thenetwork 199 to present information indicating whether or not an electricvehicle can be charged in each vehicle parking place 101, based on thereceived chargeability information. The information terminal 105 is theso-called car navigation apparatus, smartphone, or the like. Theinformation terminal 105 has an operating device 161 and a displaydevice 162, which are human-machine interfaces. In the presentembodiment, the information terminal 105 has the so-called touch screenin which a transparent touchpad, which implements the operating device161, is superimposed on an obverse side of the display device 162. Theinformation terminal 105 includes a search indicator 151, a detectionindicator 152, an observation indicator 153, a reserving unit 154, aremoval orderer 155, and a display unit 156, which are processing unitsin the chargeability presenting system and are realized by a processorexecuting a chargeability presenting program. A display unit mayhereinafter be referred to as a display.

The reserving unit 154 and the removal orderer 155 are described laterin another embodiment in conjunction with the charging reserving unit133 and the removal arranging unit 134 in the management apparatus 103.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of processing performed byone information terminal in the first embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 5 , the search indicator 151 outputs searchindication information indicating that the vehicle parking places 101where any of the charging spaces 110 is vacant are to be searched for(S101). The search indicator 151 may output the search indicationinformation based on an input from the operating device 161 or mayoutput the search indication information as initial setting when thechargeability presenting program is launched. The search indicator 151may also output the search indication information as initial setting fora vehicle-parking-place guiding program for searching for the vehicleparking spaces 120 and the charging spaces 110.

In the present embodiment, a description will be given of a case inwhich the chargeability presenting program is incorporated into thevehicle-parking-place guiding program, and the search indicator 151outputs the search indication information when the vehicle-parking-placeguiding program is launched.

After S101, the detection indicator 152 outputs detection indicationinformation indicating that the presence of a foreign object, other thana vehicle, in the wireless power-supply region in each charging space110 is to be detected (S102). The detection indication information maybe output in conjunction with the search indication information. Also,the detection indication information may be output upon input via theoperating device 161.

Next, the display unit 156 receives chargeability information indicatingthe degree of chargeability in each vehicle parking place 101, thechargeability information being generated by thechargeability-information generating unit 131 in the managementapparatus 103 based on vehicle presence information indicating whetheror not a vehicle is present in each charging space 110, the vehiclepresence information being obtained from the vehicle detector 112 ineach vehicle parking place 101 as a response to the search indicationinformation, and on foreign-object information indicating a result of anattempt to detect a foreign object on each charger 121, theforeign-object information being obtained from the foreign-objectdetector 113 as a response to the detection indication information(S103).

Next, when the charging space 110 where neither a vehicle nor a foreignobject is present and wireless charging can be performed is notavailable in each vehicle parking place 101, the display unit 156outputs a first image (an image in which “Full” is stated in a circle)indicating a first use state in association with the vehicle parkingplace 101, as illustrated in FIG. 6 ; otherwise, the display unit 156outputs a second image (an image in which “Open” is stated in a circle)indicating a second use state in association with the vehicle parkingplace 101. In the case of the present embodiment, in addition, when apredetermined condition in a range in which the number of chargingspaces 110 where wireless charging can be performed is neither zero norall is satisfied in each vehicle parking place 101, the display unit 156outputs a third image (an image in which “Busy” is stated in a circle)indicating a third use state in association with the vehicle parkingplace 101 (S104).

More specifically, for example, the vehicle presence information istreated as “0” when a vehicle is present in the corresponding chargingspace 110 and is treated as “1” when a vehicle is not present, and theforeign-object information is treated as “0” when a foreign object ispresent in the corresponding charging space 110 and is treated as “1”when a foreign object is not present. The chargeability-informationgenerating unit 131 in the management apparatus 103 performs acalculation “vehicle presence information”*“foreign-object information”(* represents a multiplication) with respect to each of the chargingspaces 110 in the vehicle parking place 101 of interest. Then, thechargeability-information generating unit 131 generates chargeabilityinformation indicating the first use state for the vehicle parking place101 of interest when the total of the calculation results for thevehicle parking place 101 is 0, generates chargeability informationindicating the second use state when the total of the calculationresults is larger than or equal to, for example, a first predeterminedvalue for the number-of-charging-spaces information indicating thenumber of charging spaces 110 in each vehicle parking place 101, andgenerates chargeability information indicating the third use state whenthe total is larger than 0 and is smaller than the first predeterminedvalue.

When the information terminal 105 obtains the chargeability informationfrom the management apparatus 103, the display unit 156 in theinformation terminal 105 causes the first, second, and third imagescorresponding to the respective pieces of chargeability information tobe displayed on a map displayed on the display device 162 based on thelocation information of the vehicle parking places 101.

Next, if an input indicating that vehicle parking availabilityinformation indicating the use state of each vehicle parking space 120is to be presented is received from the operating device 161 (Yes inS105), the display unit 156 switches the current image to an imagecorresponding to the vehicle parking availability information.

In this case, when the vehicle presence information includes informationindicating that whether or not a vehicle is present is unknown owing toa failure in the vehicle detection sensor 122 or the like, thecalculation may be performed assuming that the value is “0” indicatingthat a vehicle is present in the corresponding charging space 110. Also,whether the vehicle presence information is to be treated as “0” or “1”when the presence of a vehicle is unknown may be selected in accordancewith an input via the operating device 161. When the foreign-objectinformation includes information indicating that the detection is notpossible owing to a failure in the thermal sensor 123 or the like, thecalculation may be performed assuming that the value is “0” indicatingthat a foreign object is present. Also, whether or not theforeign-object information is to be treated “0” or “1” when thedetection is not possible may be selected in accordance with an inputvia the operating device 161.

According to the first embodiment described above, the vehicle parkingplace(s) 101 where the charging space(s) 110 where wireless charging canbe performed is (are) available and the vehicle parking place(s) 101where the charging space(s) 110 where wireless charging can be performedis (are) not available can be presented to a user, for example, a driverof an electric vehicle. In particular, since the vehicle parking places101 where charging can be reliably performed, excluding the chargingspaces 110 where wireless power supply cannot be performed owing tometal foreign objects, can be presented, useful information can beprovided to a user who desires to receive it. For example, it ispossible to avoid a problem that although a vehicle can be parked in oneof the vehicle parking spaces 120, the vehicle cannot be charged sincethere is no available charging space 110.

Although the chargeability in vehicle parking places 101 may bepresented in two stages “Open” and “Full”, the chargeability can also bepresented in three stages, for example, “Open”, “Busy”, and “Full”.Thus, the vehicle parking places 101 can be more finely presented, forexample, the vehicle parking place 101 having high chargeability butbeing distant from the current location, the vehicle parking place 101having lower chargeability but being close to the current location, andthe vehicle parking place 101 having lower chargeability but being closeto a destination or the like can be presented.

In addition, when uncertain information indicating “undetectable” isincluded in at least one of the vehicle presence information and theforeign-object information, it may be determined that a vehicle is notchargeable, thereby making it possible to present the vehicle parkingplaces 101 where the chargeability is higher.

Although each information terminal 105 has been described above asdisplaying an image corresponding to the chargeability information byusing the display device 162, each information terminal 105 may presentthe chargeability information to the user by means of sound or by meansof both an image and sound.

Second Embodiment

Next, a description will be given of a second embodiment of thechargeability presenting system. Elements (portions) having at least oneof an operation, a function, a shape, a mechanism, and a structure thatare the same as or similar to those in the first embodiment may bedenoted by the same reference numerals, and descriptions thereof may beomitted hereinafter. Points that differ from the first embodiment willbe mainly described below, and a redundant description may be omitted.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of processing performed bythe information terminal in a second embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 7 , the search indicator 151 outputs the searchindication information indicating that the vehicle parking places 101where any of the charging spaces 110 is vacant are to be searched for(S201).

Next, the display unit 156 receives the chargeability information thatthe chargeability-information generating unit 131 in the managementapparatus 103 generated based on the vehicle presence informationindicating whether or not a vehicle is present in each charging space110, the vehicle presence information being obtained from the vehicledetector 112 in each vehicle parking place 101 as a response to thesearch indication information (S202).

Next, as illustrated in FIG. 8A, the display unit 156 outputs a vehicleparking place image in which the vehicle parking places 101 areidentifiable in descending order (which may be in ascending order) basedon the number of charging spaces 110 where charging can be performed, inconjunction with the first image (“Full”), the second image (“Open”),and the third image (“Busy”) indicating the use states of thecorresponding charging spaces 110 (S203). These images are displayed onone screen on the display device 162 as a first screen 171. A table inFIG. 8B illustrates the chargeability information generation by thechargeability-information generating unit 131 in the managementapparatus 103.

After S203, when an input is received via the operating device 161, inthe case of the present embodiment, when a position corresponding to a“Detect Foreign Object” button in the first screen 171 illustrated inFIG. 8A is touched, the detection indicator 152 outputs detectionindication information indicating that the presence of a foreign object,other than a vehicle, in the wireless power-supply region in eachcharging space 110 is to be detected (S204).

Next, the display unit 156 receives the chargeability information thatthe chargeability-information generating unit 131 in the managementapparatus 103 generated based on the previously obtained vehiclepresence information and the foreign-object information obtained fromthe foreign-object detector 113 as a response to the detectionindication information (S205).

Next, as illustrated in FIG. 9A, the display unit 156 outputs a vehicleparking place image in which the vehicle parking places 101 can beidentified in descending order (which may be in ascending order) basedon the number of charging spaces 110 where neither a vehicle nor aforeign object is present and charging can be performed, in conjunctionwith the images indicating the use states of the corresponding chargingspaces 110 (S206). These images are displayed on one screen of thedisplay device 162 as a second screen 172. In this case, the table inFIG. 9B indicates the chargeability information generated by thechargeability-information generating unit 131 in the managementapparatus 103.

The first screen 171 may be displayed again when a positioncorresponding to a “Not Detect Foreign Object” button displayed on thesecond screen 172 is touched.

According to the second embodiment described above, in addition to theadvantages of the first embodiment, the vehicle parking places 101 canbe recognized in descending (or ascending) order of the chargeability(i.e., the possibility that charging can be performed), and the vehicleparking places 101 can be recognized by switching, for example, betweenthe screen for a case in which the user wishes to charge a vehicle evenit involves having to remove a foreign object and the screen for a casein which the user wishes to charge a vehicle as easily as possible.

When the operating device 161 corresponding to the location of a desiredvehicle parking place of the vehicle parking places 101 is touched in astate in which the first screen 171 is displayed on the display device162 in the information terminal 105, the chargeability information forthe desired vehicle parking place 101 may be shown in more detail, asillustrated in FIG. 10 . Also, the chargeability information for thedesired vehicle parking place 101, together with the foreign-objectinformation, may also be shown in detail, as illustrated in FIG. 11 , bytouching the operating device 161 corresponding to the location of thevehicle parking place 101 displayed on the second screen 172.

In addition, the screen may be caused to transition to achargeability-information display screen (illustrated in FIG. 11 )including the foreign-object information by operating a “Detect ForeignObject” button displayed on the chargeability-information display screen(illustrated in FIG. 10 ) based only on the vehicle presence informationor may be caused to transition to the previous screen by operating a“Not Detect Foreign Object” button.

Third Embodiment

Next, a description will be given of a third embodiment of thechargeability presenting system. Elements (portions) having at least oneof an operation, a function, a shape, a mechanism, and a structure thatare the same as or similar to those in the first and second embodimentsmay be denoted by the same reference numerals, and descriptions thereofmay be omitted hereinafter. Points that differ from the first and secondembodiments will be mainly described below, and a redundant descriptionmay be omitted.

FIG. 12 is a view of a screen output by the display unit in a thirdembodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 12 , the display unit 156 outputs an imageshowing details of the chargeability information for a designatedvehicle parking place of the vehicle parking places 101, as in thesecond embodiment. In the case of the present embodiment, a “DetectDifficulty Level” button is displayed on the displayed screen. When aposition corresponding to the “Detect Difficulty Level” button displayedon the screen is touched, the display unit 156 outputs a fourth image(an image in which “High” is stated) indicating that the difficultylevel of removing a foreign object is considerably high and a fifthimage (an image in which “Low” is stated) indicating that the difficultylevel of removing a foreign object is relatively low, in conjunctionwith the numbers of charging spaces 110 where the foreign objects havingthe respective difficulty levels are present, as illustrated in FIG. 13.

The difficulty level of removing a foreign object is determined, forexample, in the following manner. The removability determiner 114, whichis realized by the control apparatus 124 in each vehicle parking place101, calculates the area of a region where the temperature is higherthan or equal to a predetermined temperature, based on thermal imageinformation from the thermal sensor 123, which is a thermo camera. Theremovability determiner 114 outputs removability information “notremovable” indicating that a foreign object that is present in thecorresponding charging space 110 is not removable when the calculatedarea is larger than or equal to a predetermined first threshold, andoutputs removability information “removable” indicating that a foreignobject is removable when the calculated area is smaller than the firstthreshold.

The removability determiner 114 may further cause the difficulty-levelinformation indicating the difficulty level of removing a foreign objectto be included in the removability information, based on a plurality ofthresholds, such as a second threshold. For example, when the calculatedarea is larger than or equal to the first threshold, difficulty-levelinformation indicating “Not Removable” indicating that a foreign objectis not removable may be created; when the calculated area is larger thanor equal to the second threshold and is smaller than the firstthreshold, difficulty-level information indicating “High” indicatingthat a foreign object is removable when a tool, such as a dolly, is usedmay be created; and when the calculated area is smaller than the secondthreshold, difficulty-level information indicating “Low” indicating thata foreign object is removable by only human power may be created.

According to this scheme, in addition to the advantages of the first andsecond embodiments, the user can select whether or not to remove aforeign object on his or her own. Thus, presenting the chargeabilityinformation according to the user's selection leads to an improvement inuser convenience.

Fourth Embodiment

Next, a description will be given of a fourth embodiment of thechargeability presenting system. Elements (portions) having at least oneof an operation, a function, a shape, a mechanism, and a structure thatare the same as or similar to those in the first, second, and thirdembodiments may be denoted by the same reference numerals, anddescriptions thereof may be omitted hereinafter. Points that differ fromthe first, second, and third embodiments will be mainly described below,and a redundant description may be omitted.

FIG. 14 is a view of a reservation screen displayed on the displaydevice in the information terminal in a fourth embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 14 , the reserving unit 154 in the informationterminal 105 outputs reservation information when a “Reserve” buttondisplayed in association with the corresponding vehicle parking place101 is operated using the operating device 161 (see FIG. 4 ). When themanagement apparatus 103 receives the reservation information, thecharging reserving unit 133 therein outputs the reservation informationto the corresponding vehicle parking place 101 (see FIG. 3 ).

Through the above-described processing, by reserving the charging space110 in which charging can be performed, the user can save the vehicleparking place 101 where charge can be reliably performed, so that he orshe can head to the vehicle parking place 101 with a sense of security.

In addition, a screen (as illustrated in FIG. 15 ) based on thedifficulty-level information for removing a foreign object is displayedwhen a “Detect Difficulty Level” button displayed on the screenillustrated in FIG. 14 is operated using the operating device 161.

When a “Remove” button (as illustrated in FIG. 15 ) displayed inassociation with the difficulty level of removing a foreign object isoperated using the operating device 161, the removal orderer 155 in theinformation terminal 105 outputs removal information (see FIG. 4 ). Whenthe management apparatus 103 receives the removal information, theremoval arranging unit 134 therein outputs removal information (see FIG.3 ) to a foreign-object removal business operator that covers thecorresponding vehicle parking place 101 (Parking Place B) in its servicearea.

Through the above-described processing, even only the charging space 110where a foreign object is present is available, it is possible toreserve the vehicle parking place 101 where charging can be reliablyperformed, before an electric vehicle arrives at the charging space 110,by giving a request for removing the foreign object to theforeign-object removal business operator. It is also possible to enhanceuser convenience.

The above description has been given of a case in which the reservationinformation is output to the vehicle parking place 101 to reserve thecharging space 110 where charging can be performed. In addition, thevehicle parking place 101 including the reserved charging space 110 canbe set for a destination and driving assistance based on navigation canbe performed utilizing the information terminal 105, or can be set for adestination for autonomous driving in cooperation with a vehicle.

The present disclosure is not limited to the above-describedembodiments. For example, another embodiment realized by arbitrarilycombining the constituent elements described hereinabove or by excludingsome of the constituent elements may also be regarded as an embodimentof the present disclosure. The present disclosure also encompassesvariations obtained by making various modifications conceived by thoseskilled in the art within a scope not departing from the spirit of thepresent disclosure, that is, not departing from the gist of the wordingrecited in the claims.

For example, the places where the processing units included in thechargeability presenting system are implemented are not limited to thosein the above-described embodiments. For example, each informationterminal 105 may be connected to the vehicle parking places 101 throughthe network 199 without provision of the management apparatus 103 andmay, for example, generate and adjust the availability information.

The timing at which each processing unit outputs the information is notlimited to that in the above-described embodiments, and the timing atwhich each processing unit outputs the information may be determinedaccording to variable initial settings, an arbitrary operation on theoperating device 161, or the like.

Also, although a case in which the vehicle parking places 101 wherecharging can be performed are presented has been described in theabove-described embodiments, vehicle parking availability informationregarding both the vehicle parking spaces 120 and the charging spaces110 may be displayed through switching in order to present the vehicleparking places 101 where a vehicle can be reliably parked, in responseto an explicit instruction from the user.

When charging is not needed, this function makes it possible to performa wide search for vehicle parking spaces where a vehicle can be parked.Thus, the vehicle parking availability information can be switchedaccording to the user's request, for example, extensive options can bepresented to the user.

Also, the chargeability may be displayed through switching between twostages “Open” and “Full” and three stages “Open”, “Busy”, and “Full”,may be displayed through switching between a case in which thechargeability information is generated based only on the vehiclepresence information and a case in which the chargeability informationis generated by adding the foreign-object information thereto, and mayfurther be displayed through switching between a case in which thechargeability information is generated without adding thedifficulty-level information and a case in which the chargeabilityinformation is generated by adding the difficulty-level information.

This makes it possible to present the chargeability through switching ofthe vehicle parking places 101 that suit the user's request.

Any of the presented vehicle parking places 101 may also be set for adestination in a navigation system through operation using the operatingdevice 161. This makes it possible to perform road navigation to thevehicle parking place 101 where charging can be performed.

Also, after one of the information terminals 105 checks thechargeability information for one of the vehicle parking places 101 orthe charging reserving unit 133 reserves one of the charging spaces 110where charging can be performed, the corresponding foreign-objectdetector 113 performs foreign object detection or the correspondingvehicle detector 112 performs vehicle detection, and then chargeabilityinformation based on a most-recent foreign object situation may be newlygenerated and be presented to the user via the information terminal 105.With this scheme, when the charging space 110 that has been set becomesunavailable or when the charging space 110 that has a better conditionin terms of a parking area, a fee, or the like becomes available, itpossible to change the settings. It is possible to effectively notifythe user of the change in the settings by adding sound or vibration tothe notification.

Also, the operating device 161 included in each information terminal 105is not limited to a transparent touchpad and may be implemented by adevice that is operable by voice, a device that is operable by ahuman-body's operation, a device that is operable by movement of theeyes, or the like.

Not only are electric vehicles to be charged parked in the chargingspaces 110, but also electric vehicles not to be charged and vehiclesother than electric vehicles can be parked in the charging spaces 110.

Manufacturing, using, and/or selling a program for causing a computer toexecute the processes included in the chargeability presenting systemalso corresponds to implementing the present disclosure. It goes withoutsaying that manufacturing, using, and/or selling a recording mediumon/in which the program is recorded also corresponds to implementing thepresent disclosure.

The present disclosure is applicable to a vehicle parking place systemin which vehicle parking places and information terminals are connectedthrough a network and is particularly applicable to at least one of avehicle navigation system, a navigation system in a smartphone, and soon.

As described above, the present disclosure includes a chargeabilitypresenting method and a chargeability presenting system described in thefollowing items.

Item 1

A chargeability presenting method using a vehicle parking place system,the vehicle parking place system including:

a management apparatus that is connected to one or more vehicle parkingplaces through a network to manage the one or more vehicle parkingplaces and an information terminal that is connected to the managementapparatus through the network, each vehicle parking place having acharging space where a vehicle including an electric vehicle is parkableand a charger for wirelessly charging the vehicle is installed, themethod comprising:

a search indicator outputting search indication information indicatingthat the vehicle parking place where the charging space is vacant is tobe searched for;

a vehicle detector outputting vehicle presence information indicatingwhether or not a vehicle is present in each charging space, uponobtaining the search indication information;

a detection indicator outputting detection indication informationindicating that presence of a foreign object, other than a vehicle, in awireless power-supply region in each charging space is to be detected;

a foreign-object detector attempting to detect a foreign object andoutputting foreign-object information indicating a result of thedetection, upon obtaining the detection indication information; and

a display displaying, on a display device included in the informationterminal, an image that is generated based on the vehicle presenceinformation and the foreign-object information and that indicates adegree of chargeability in each vehicle parking place in a predeterminedform.

Item 2

A chargeability presenting method for one or more vehicle parking placeseach having a charging space, the method using an information terminalthat is connectable to a network and that has a display device, themethod comprising:

a search indicator outputting search indication information indicatingthat a vehicle parking place where the charging space is vacant, avehicle including an electronic vehicle being parkable in the vacantcharging space, is to be searched for;

a detection indicator outputting detection indication informationindicating that presence of a foreign object, other than a vehicle, in awireless power-supply region in each charging space is to be detected;and

a display outputting an image indicating a degree of chargeability ineach vehicle parking place in a predetermined form onto the displaydevice, the image being generated based on vehicle presence informationand foreign-object information, vehicle presence information beingobtained as a response to the search indication information andindicating whether or not a vehicle is present in each charging space,foreign-object information indicating a result of an attempt to detect aforeign object in the wireless power-supply region, the foreign-objectinformation being obtained as a response to the detection indicationinformation.

Item 3

The method according to Item 2,

wherein, when the charging space where neither a vehicle nor a foreignobject is present and wireless charging is possible is not available ineach vehicle parking place, the display unit outputs a first imageindicating a first use state in association with the vehicle parkingplace; otherwise, the display unit outputs a second image indicating asecond use state in association with the vehicle parking place.

Item 4

The method according to Item 3,

wherein, when a predetermined condition in a range in which the numberof charging spaces where wireless charging is possible is neither zeronor all is satisfied in each vehicle parking place, the display unitoutputs a third image indicating a third use state in association withthe vehicle parking place.

Item 5

The method according to one of Items 2 or 4,

wherein the display unit outputs a vehicle parking place image withwhich the one or more vehicle parking places are identifiable inascending or descending order based on the number of charging spaceswhere charging is possible in each of the one or more vehicle parkingplaces.

Item 6

The method according to one of Items 2 to 5,

wherein the detection indicator determines whether or not the detectionindication information is to be output, based on an operation on anoperating device included in the information terminal.

Item 7

The method according to one of Items 2 to 5, further comprising:

an observation indicator outputting observation indication informationindicating that removability of a foreign object by using human power isto be observed, when it is determined that the foreign object ispresent, based on the foreign-object information; and

receiving, as a response to the observation indication information,removability information indicating a result of an attempt to observethe removability of the foreign object,

wherein the display unit outputs an image indicating a degree ofchargeability in each vehicle parking place in a predetermined form, theimage being generated based on the removability information in additionto the vehicle presence information and the foreign-object information.

Item 8

The method according to Item 7,

wherein, when the removability information includes difficulty-levelinformation indicating a difficulty level of removing the foreignobject,

-   -   the display unit outputs a difficulty level image corresponding        to the difficulty-level information.        Item 9

The method according to one of Items 2 to 8, further comprising:

a reservation indicator outputting reservation information indicating areservation of the charging space in the vehicle parking placecorresponding to the second image, based on an operation on an operatingdevice.

Item 10

The method according to one of Items 7 to 9, further comprising:

a removal indicator outputting, upon receiving the removabilityinformation indicating that the foreign object is removable, removalinformation indicating that the foreign object is to be removed, basedon an operation on an operating device.

Item 11

A chargeability presenting system for a vehicle parking place systemincluding a management apparatus that is connected to one or morevehicle parking places through a network to manage the one or morevehicle parking places and an information terminal that is connected tothe management apparatus through the network, each vehicle parking placehaving a charging space where a vehicle including an electric vehicle isparkable and a charger for wirelessly charging the vehicle is installed,the chargeability presenting system comprising:

a search indicator that outputs search indication information indicatingthat the vehicle parking place where the charging space is vacant is tobe searched for;

a vehicle detector that outputs vehicle presence information indicatingwhether or not a vehicle is present in each charging space, uponobtaining the search indication information;

a detection indicator that outputs detection indication informationindicating that presence of a foreign object, other than the vehicle, ina wireless power-supply region in each charging space is to be detected;

a foreign-object detector that attempts to detect the foreign object andthat outputs foreign-object information indicating a result of theattempt, upon obtaining the detection indication information; and

a display that displays, on a display device included in the informationterminal, an image that is generated based on the vehicle presenceinformation and the foreign-object information and that indicates adegree of chargeability in each vehicle parking place in a predeterminedform.

What is claimed is:
 1. A chargeability presenting method, comprising:before start of transmitting first electric power to an electricvehicle, wirelessly supplying second electric power to a charging space;detecting whether heat is generated by a foreign object in the chargingspace after the second electric power is transmitted; and before startof transmitting the first electric power, presenting chargeabilityinformation that is generated based on vehicle presence information andforeign object information, the vehicle presence information indicatingwhether the charging space is vacant, and the foreign object informationindicating whether the heat is detected in the charging space.
 2. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the second electric power is lowerthan the first electric power.
 3. The method according to claim 1,wherein the second electric power is supplied before the electricvehicle is located on the charging space.
 4. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the first electric power is transmitted to the electricvehicle in a case where the presented chargeability informationindicates that charging is allowable.
 5. A chargeability presentingmethod for one or more vehicle parking places each having a chargingspace, the method comprising: before start of transmitting firstelectric power for charging an electric vehicle, supplying secondelectric power to the charging space; detecting heat generated byelectric power in the charging space because of existing a foreignobject other than a vehicle in a wireless power-supply region in thecharging space; outputting vehicle presence information indicating thata vehicle parking place where the charging space is vacant, a vehicleincluding an electric vehicle being parkable in the vacant chargingspace, is to be searched for; outputting foreign object informationindicating that presence of a foreign object, other than a vehicle, in awireless power supply region in each charging space is to be detected;and presenting chargeability information in each vehicle parking placethat is generated based on the vehicle presence information and theforeign object information before start of transmitting first electricpower for charging the electric vehicle, wherein the first electricpower is transmitted to the electric vehicle in a case where thepresented chargeability information indicates that charging isallowable.